A Werewolf's Tale

re there were none of these wolves. However, the more she reflected on it, the more it dawned on her how much she didn't know about her history. Her mother had never spoken very much a

ust a little. "There will be more you will learn in time," he

ore she could reply, closing

e pursued took her to further uncertainty. She was used to life not being easy, but this - this was a whole di

. The ritual would come whether she was read

l ahead bearing on her chest like a boulder. Her dreams had been a jumble of pictures-wolves with ey

gh the gaps in the heavy drapes. It was almost time. T

he front door. She opened it to find Cassian standing there, holding a simple robe o

d quietly, his voice

hat escape was not an option. This was her fate, and sh

out, Cassian guided her through the stone hallways, the torches waving as they went, their shadows

wer in his gaze that drew her in like the tide pulling in upon the shore. She

th an intensity that could not be denied. With defiance in her heart, she had come here, but facing him now, she felt small, just u

ing more. His jaw tightened, and for a moment, Lyra glimpsed the burden he bore. It was not just the weight of

re was a gravity behind the words that made Lyra's chest tighten. He never

m her breathing. "I don't belong here, Kale.

ning with an emotion she couldn't na

It's about power - power you can't imagine that knits us together i

? Is that what you think this is? A power play? Do

something like regret before hardening ag

in the air between them thick and acrid, and Lyra found herself unable to endure it. "Then tell me,

of her question. His eyes drifted, flickering to somewhere bey

crossed with inevitability. "You will bind yourse

u want me to be like you, a beast?" A creature witho

his eyes made her stomach churn. And she saw the flicker of the beast

one with the wolves." The power we possess is what sustains us. Without it, everything would fall apart." Hi